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James Bond can don the tuxedo and break out the Dom Perignon after the super spy returned to theaters in record fashion at the weekend, blowing away box office rivals with $87.8 million in ticket sales for the U.S. and Canadian debut of new movie Skyfall for the biggest opening in the franchise’s history. The best North American opening for the 50-year-old Bond franchise adds to a strong tally of $428.6 million for Skyfall overseas. Globally, the movie starring Daniel Craig as 007 has now earned $518.6 million since first hitting international theaters on October 26, distributor Sony Pictures said.

Skyfall handily beat Walt Disney animated movie Wreck-It Ralph, the story of a video game character who destroys everything in his path. The family film that topped last week’s charts grabbed $33.1 million from Friday through Sunday and slipped to second place. Denzel Washington drama Flight, about an airline captain who saves a plane from crashing, pulled in $15.1 million to finish third. Bond’s allure proved unbeatable in Skyfall, the third movie starring Craig and the first in four years. The last Bond film, Quantum of Solace in 2008, opened with a then-record $68 million at North American (U.S. and Canadian) theatres.

“We’ve always been very bullish about the film, but I don’t think anyone expected the kind of stunning numbers that we’ve seen,” said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for Sony Corp's Sony Pictures studio. “How many pictures in just over two weeks have earned more than half a billion already?” he told Reuters.

“We’ve seen huge openings in every country that it’s opened in. It’s going to be one for the history books,” Bruer added.

In the new movie, Judi Dench returns as Bond’s supervisor, M. Bond travels between Istanbul, Shanghai and London as his loyalty to M is tested, while MI6 comes under attack from an unknown threat. Javier Bardem plays the villain Bond must stop. Bond’s return has been hailed by the critics as a triumph for the 23-film franchise after a tepid response to Quantum of Solace. Ninety-two percent of Skyfall reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes website were positive, and audiences polled by CinemaScore awarded the film an ‘A’ grade. The film has already exceeded the Quantum lifetime box office total.

The $200 million movie was produced by MGM, Sony and Eon Productions. Its release comes 50 years after the franchise premiered with Dr. No in 1962, and the